The Next Week

I went under the trailer to find part numbers for the axle because it could use new rubber fittings. What did I see? Well, I saw what I thought was a crack in the frame, but I wasn't positive so I took a picture. I was so upset I felt sick to my stomach because 1) This is what I spent money on? 2) How did I not see this? 3) It was "back together" 4) What a nightmare! It's not in a place that you would EVER notice at just a glance, and it's in a bad spot right behind the axle where it bolts to the frame. All that I could tell myself to feel better is, "Well, at least you didn't put your horse in there." I don't know how I didn't see this, and now the ride was in jeopardy. GREAT! I need to figure out what decisions I have to make from here.

To top it off, I got home to open a package that i was waiting for (shocks to help lift ramp). I didn't need them, but thought I'd replace the ones on there to make it easier. What do you know? I got an empty box! It's like this thing is one big joke, a huge mistake, and a shoot in the foot. School has been overwhelming and I just haven't been in the mood to ride. I kept my head up and knew that things would get better, but now what? I trained for 30 miles for nothing? Why yes, yes I did! I contacted a shipper that didn't get back to me, the owner of the farm said she could take me if I needed it, no one responded to my "are you passing by me on the way to the ride" post in EVERY endurance group on Facebook, and the girl I was going to ride with said she'd get me (I just needed to find a way back). I looked at the weather, and it looked like rain all weekend. AHH! I decided to weigh the options. I still had some times to decide.

That weekend, I got invited to go to Batsto with the trainer's trailer, her new horse, and another girl. I decided it was a great opportunity to get off the farm and practice for this ride if I was going to end up doing it. We did

Relaxed for Friday

A LOT more water, cantering,  pacing (yikes), and a lot of working through some problem areas. We came up to campsites that were for boy scouts and a college course, and it was like a clown show. The horses saw tarps, tents, poles, wind, and every other imaginary object. Spyder was the calmest, but he didn't want to move ahead of the others. We stayed in the back most of the ride to pace since he likes to zoom past everyone. I did hold him back when they cantered ahead to see what would happen, and he just wanted to GO! I didn't feel like I had a whole lot of control so we took our time and caught up when we needed to. It was AWESOME, and we were the highlight of many people's pictures for the weekend on their hikes.

I ended up deciding to volunteer for the ride, and I pulled before the refund period was up. The coordinator said that I could get the other $25 they hold back if worked the event. I wasn't concerned with the money, but that was really nice of them and meant they needed volunteers. Since the weather was going to be awful, I stuck to volunteering with the thought that others would bail because of the rain.  I wanted to get the experience, see the location,and feel out the group that I'd been longing to meet.

I kept my half day that Friday that I would have used to trailer to the ride and rode. I didn't get to do too much because the vet gave him a tranq for his sheath cleaning. I did get a funny video of him being unable to control his muzzle. I have more of him flopping his head around on the cross ties because he was getting so annoyed he couldn't control it. I took it easy and did a lot of walking since he was out of it a bit. I was happy to have at least gotten on before the MONSOON for the Rabbit Run and I'm happy that I wasn't hauling out a 1/2 asleep/drugged horse. All things happen for a reason, right?